Foe is a 1986 novel by South African-born Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee. Woven around the existing plot of Robinson Crusoe, Foe is written from the perspective of Susan Barton, a castaway who landed on the same island inhabited by "Cruso" and Friday as their adventures were already underway. Like Robinson Crusoe, it is a frame story, unfolded as Barton's narrative while in England attempting to convince the writer Daniel Foe to help transform her tale into popular fiction. Focused primarily on themes of language and power, the novel was the subject of criticism in South Africa, where it was regarded as politically irrelevant on its release. Coetzee revisited the composition of Robinson Crusoein 2003 in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

When Coetzee was awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature, he revisited the theme of composition as self-definition in his acceptance speech, entitled "He and his Man".[14] Coetzee, who had lectured in character before, narrated a situation in which an elderly Crusoe quietly living in Bristol becomes the ambivalent muse of Defoe. According to The Guardian, this act of composition "write[s] "Defoe into existence, rather than the other way around."[14] Although Crusoe is the narrator of the piece, Coetzee indicated he did not know whether Crusoe or Defoe represented him in the lecture.[14] By contrast, he clearly identified himself with Barton in Foe: "the unsuccessful author—worse authoress."[15]

Professor Zevit said this explains why man has no baculum, unlike most mammals, and why men don't have an uneven number of ribs compared to women.

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Christians have reacted with fury after a religious academic suggested Eve was not made from Adam's rib, but was instead formed using his penis. The theory, put forward by biblical professor Ziony Zevit, suggests God made Eve from Adam's baculum - and this explains why man has no penis bone, unlike most mammals

To support his theory, Professor Zevit from the American Jewish University in Maryland said the Hebrew word 'tsela', taken from the Old Testament, does not translate as 'rib' and instead 'refers to limbs sticking out sideways from an upright human body.'

PROFESSOR ZEVIT'S PENIS THEORY

To support his theory, Professor Zevit said the Hebrew word 'tsela', taken from the Old Testament, does not translate as 'rib' and instead 'refers to limbs sticking out sideways from an upright human body.'

The word 'tzela' or 'tsela' appears a number of times and in different contexts in the Old Testament, and Professor Zevit said this is what led translators astray.

He claims that the word was used for any part of anatomy protruding from the body, including feet, arms and penis.

Professor Zevit said this explains why man has no baculum, unlike most mammals, and why men don't have an uneven number of ribs compared to women.

Elsewhere, he added that Genesis 2:21, in which God closes the flesh beneath the 'tsela', refers to the flesh that exists on the underside of the penis.

Defending his theory, he wrote that his understanding of how Eve was formed is based on analysis of the use of Hebrew in the Garden story.

He claims that the word was used for any part of anatomy protruding from the body, including feet, arms and penis.

'Of these appendages, the only one lacking a bone is the penis,' he explained in his book What Really Happened in the Garden of Eden?

Elsewhere, he added that Genesis 2:21, in which God closes the flesh beneath the 'tsela', refers to the flesh that exists on the underside of the penis.

'Come on now, Eve being created from Adam's penis bone, rather than his rib?

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A review of Ziony Zevit's book, What really happened in the Garden of Eden? recently appeared in The Biblical Archaeological Review (pictured). The publication gave Zevit a chance to defend his position after the book's position angered readers

PASSAGE IN GENESIS CHAPTER 2

Professor Zevit studied the Hebrew account of the Garden of Eden story. The translated version taken from Genesis 2:21 to 2:24 in the King James bible reads:

'And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

'And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

'And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

'Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.'

'That is plainly not a Bible teaching. I do not need and will not read articles that damage my faith or attempts to cause me to doubt what I know is the truth from the Bible.'

Another reader, Rev Randall L Krabill, wrote: 'How does Ziony Zevit's article have anything to do with Biblical archaeology?

'I have never purchased a tabloid magazine in my life - and I have no intention of ever doing so.

'I certainly didn't realize that was what I was doing when I subscribed to BAR.'

And Rev Don Brubacher, from Canada, dismissed the theory as 'totally unconvincing', 'laughable' and 'outlandish'.

He said: 'As Jesus scathingly said: 'You blind guides! You strain out a gnat and swallow a camel.' (Matthew 23:24).'

Defending his theory, Professor Zevit wrote that his understanding of how Eve was formed is based on analysis of the use of Hebrew in the Garden story.

The Garden of Earthly delights by Hieronymus Bosch's, depicts Adam and Eve in heaven (pictured, left panel). Adam and Eve are central to the biblical view of creation, being the first people created on Earth and the descendants of all peoples

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In the left panel of this tryptic painting, Bosch depicts the introduction of Adam and Eve (pictured) by God. In the King James Bible it states that God took one of Adam's ribs while he slept and used it to form Eve

While many animals do have a baculum, humans aren’t the only mammal without one.

We are part of a boneless group that includes whales, horses, rhinos, rabbits and spider monkeys, all of which have evolved without the penis bone.

In his book, The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkin’s suggested that selective sexual pressure may have led to the bone disappearing in humans.

A possible explanation could be the move from quick, opportunistic mating to more complex socio-sexual behaviour in our evolution and paternity.

This move allowed for more frequent, but shorter duration mating.

WHY DON’T HUMANS HAVE A PENIS BONE?

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The baculum, or penile bone, is found in the penis of many placental mammals, including cats, dogs and apes. The bone, such as that from a walrus (pictured) helps to maintain stiffness during copulation. However some animals, including elephants and humans, don't have the bone

While many animals do have a baculum, humans aren’t the only mammal without one.

We are part of a boneless group that includes whales, horses, rhinos, rabbits and spider monkeys, all of which have evolved without the penis bone.

In his book, The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkin’s suggests that selective sexual pressure may have led to the bone disappearing in humans.

A possible explanation could be the move from quick, opportunistic mating to more complex socio-sexual behaviour in our evolution and paternity. This move allowed for more frequent, but shorter duration mating.

Our nearest living relative, the chimpanzee, has a very small baculum, indicating that we may be at the end point of an evolutionary shift towards a decrease in size of the bone.

While we don’t have one, spare a thought for the polar bear. A team of Danish scientists found that a certain type of pollutant called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) is associated with a less dense penile bone.

This puts them at risk of breaking their penis, which could have disastrous consequences for mating and the survival of the endangered species.